Biopharmaceutical firm UCB to invest £1bn in UK for research and development

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Global biopharmaceutical company UCB is investing around £1bn in the UK for research and development, supporting the country’s life sciences sector.

Image: The UK has announced an investment of more than £1.3bn to advance healthcare innovation. Photo: courtesy of BlackJack3D / iStock.

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UCB will build a new £150mto £200m research and development facility as part of the total investment over the next five years.

The transition to the facility will support around 650 jobs and bring innovative medicines discovered in the UK to patients globally.

UCB’s investment is the second Life Sciences Sector Deal, which will bring £1.3bn industry/government investment to the UK economy.

The second Life Sciences Sector Deal, with industry investment from 10 companies, will support healthcare innovation and support businesses to create jobs.

The UK has announced an investment of over £1.3bn industry/government investment in the economy, as part of the second Life Sciences Sector Deal.

The programme, which is supported by around £79m government funding, will assess five million healthy people for the development of new diagnostic tests with the support of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

The deal is also supported by a range of organizations from across the sector, and includes more than £1.3bn investment between the public and private sectors to help advance research in the genomics and AI-powered diagnosis.

UK business secretary Greg Clark said: “From the first vaccine to the discovery of DNA, the UK has always been at the forefront of medical endeavour and healthcare innovations.

“That is why we are building on our unique strengths by placing life sciences at the centre of our modern Industrial Strategy, backed by the biggest increase in public research and development investment in UK history.”

The NHS, industry and major charities such as Cancer Research UK, the British Heart Foundation and Alzheimer’s Research UK are involved in the program.

As part of Life Sciences Sector Deal, Roche has announced further investment of £30m in the UK , including £20m investment over three years in a precision cancer research partnership with the Christie NHS Foundation Trust in Manchester.

Other firms investing as part of the deal include IQVIA, Oxford BioMedica, Cobra Biologics, Roslin CT and Bellicum.

UK health secretary Matt Hancock said: “Technology and artificial intelligence have the potential to revolutionise healthcare by unlocking the next generation of treatments, diagnosing diseases before symptoms appear and helping patients take greater control of their own health.”